United States stocks fall on North Korea worries

USA stocks felt significant early drag, with the S&P 500 down 0.5% at the open.

The Dow finally ended 0.2 percent lower at 22,085.34 points.

Overall, second-quarter results have been stronger than expected with analysts now expecting S&P 500 earnings to have expanded 11.8%, up from 8% at the start of July, Reuters reported. Trump's comments came after a WashingtonPost report (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korea-now-making-missile-ready-nuclear-weapons-us-analysts-say/2017/08/08/e14b882a-7b6b-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.0938becb046e) that North Korea has built a miniaturized nuclear warhead. The slide deepened after Trump's remarks on North Korea aired.

Netflix also fell, giving up $3.37, or 1.9 percent, to $174.99.

U.S. dairy group Dean Foods dropped nearly 21 percent as its quarterly earnings fell, and the stock received a downgrade from JPMorgan.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of major peers, slipped 0.1 percent as U.S. Treasury yields fell.

Brokerage stocks are among the few groups seeing notable weakness, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 1%.

G4S (LON:GFS) shares dropped 4.8% despite the security services provider reporting a rise in profits for the firs half but made a decision to keep its interim dividend flat.

Upmarket clothing brands Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors were early winners on the U.S. stock market on Tuesday, surprising investors with their quarterly performance despite a tough climate for retailers.

In the Dow, declines in shares of Merck and DuPont, down 0.9% and 0.8% respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Apple and Microsoft, up 1.3% and 0.7% respectively. The Nasdaq composite gave up 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,369.

SeaWorld Entertainment shares lost more than 6 percent. September-dated crude futures settled up 0.8%, or 39 cents, at $49.56 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price global oils, gained 10 cents to $52.24 in London. Platinum gained 0.7 per cent to $973.40 per ounce after hitting its highest since April 21 in the previous session. Copper rose 4 cents to $2.94 a pound.

Utilities closed up 0.3 percent while the materials sector .SPLRCM was the S&P's biggest loser with a 0.9-percent drop.

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